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TARA WOODS PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION
Tara Woods Property Owners Association
Annual Meeting
May 21, 2005
Lake Anna Rescue Squad Building (Bumpass)
The Annual Meeting for 2005 was held at the Elk Creek Baptist Church on Kentucky Spring Road. Directors present were Mike Miller (VP), Jack Perrigo (Sec), Dick Dickens, Al Gam, Jim Holland, and David Melton. Mike Mann, Bill Poggi, and Russell Smith were absent.
MINUTES
Mike Miller, Vice President, led the meeting and opened the meeting with a call to order. He then introduced the new board members (himself, Jack Perrigo, Dick Dickens, and Russell Smith). Mike welcomed new property owners and noted that we had the names on lot 10 and 11 reversed.
AGENDA
The agenda was modified to include a presentation on the non-judical sale of lot 69 by Dick Dickens and to have the property manager make his presentation first since he had other business that day. The agenda was approved by unanimous consent.
Property Manager’s Report: Harmel Sabourins discussed the construction on lot 65. We have sent the owners a letter asking for an update on the status of the construction. The fence rails were replaced and some of the broken posts by Harmel, Jack Perrigo, and Harmels sons. The mowing will be done every other week. The mowing contractor still has not finished the mulching. We had a community work day last weekend and Harmel thanked the participants: Jim Holland, Jim Duke, Scott Spivey, Doug Ward, Matt Ward, Jack Perrigo, June (his wife) and his two sons Josh and Jake. We dug out the rocks next to the beach area and leveled it out. The area was an eyesore and attracted black widow spiders and snakes. The rest of the rocky area needs to be dug out to provide better drainage. Harmel donated asphalt sealer to fill the numerous cracks in the pavement. We sent out letters on the lots that need to be mowed. The gate is now working very well. Harmel put new pulleys and lubricated the 5 feet long chain. Jim Holland commented that Tara Woods saved a lot money since Harmel has been doing the gate maintenance instead of contracting out that work. Ron Neubauer said that a couple of the tie off posts are loose in his slip. We spend about $600 last year driving loose posts. Harmel said he would pound the loose posts. Shirley Jones volunteered to contact a neighbor who has a manual pile driver that we might be able to use.
Budget Summary: The year ending December 2004, we had a carryover of about $10,000. The mowing contract costs $9,000 for 15 mowings or about $600 per mowing. In 2003, we paid $425 per mowing, so the new contract is about 40 percent higher. In 2004, we began the year by mowing every week. At that rate, we would have run out of our 15 mowings by early August with 3 or 4 months left to mow. That is why the grass was quit long last fall. We did add one additional mowing for $475 so the total mowing was $9, 475. This year the property manager is having the grass cut every two weeks to avoid the problems encountered last year.
Last year we were over budget on the attorneys fees by about $1,300 and about another $1,000 over budget on the mowing costs. We only disbursed about $6,500 on the mowing contract because the contractor wanted to be paid $750 each month for 12 months. We were still paying for the 2004 mowing in January, February, and March
The 2005 budget exceeds our anticipated receipts for the year by $638. Unusual expenses this year are for the reserve study required by Virginia law and legal expenses for the non-judicial sale of lot 65. While we have a $10,000 carry forward from last year, we need to have about $3,500 for the mowing if we go back to paying for the mowing as it is done rather than the $750 month for 12 months. We also need a few thousand dollars until we receive all the dues on March 1.
Art Golbeck commented that the budget should put that in the budget to show we rely on that money.
Non-Judicial Sale of Lot 69: Dick Dickens discussed the proposed non-judicial sale of lot 69. The owner of lot 69 left the country and we have lost track of him. The point of contact he left with us is no longer available. Consequently, we are pursuing a non-judicial sale. Because the owner is not available, we have to be careful. The attorney plans to have a trustee actually handle the sale. We are waiting for a trustee and a sale date.
Architectural Committee: Dick Dickens said that we have four new homes (lot 23, lot 63, lot 39, and lot 5). We have one new package to approve for Al Gam.
Fourth of July: Shirley Carestia asked that people tell her in advance if they are going to be in the parade. Last year we had the Lake Anna Rescue Squad sell food, but they are having trouble getting help, so we might be going back to a potluck. In the past some of our neighbors have expressed an interest in our parade. Shirely will contact Tara Shores to see they want to join us this year.
Annual Picnic: Maryhelen Perrigo and Nancy Lear are co-hosting the annual picnic. The picnic is planned for October 1st at 3:00 PM. The theme is “Ocktoberfest”.
Hospitality: Nancy Lear said they sometimes have trouble getting the welcome baskets to people who are only here on weekends.
Key Future Events: The board meetings are basically following the same schedule as last year. The meetings are on Sunday at 1:00 PM in the Lake Anna Rescue Squad. The fourth of July parade is on July 2. The annual picnic is on October 1. The newsletters go out in May, July, September, and December.
Gift Certificates were given to departing Directors Jim Duke, Bar Cameron, Larry Katz, Maryhelen Perrigo.
Comments by Members
Mike Miller commented that some real estate transactions have failed because of delays in getting sellers packages. In Tara Woods we usually get the sellers packages out in a day or two and a few have been done the same day requested. We do not require that a request be in writing nor do we make people wait the 14 days provided by Virginia Law.
The reserve study is in draft form. We plan to review the draft at the next board meeting and come up with a board response and the contract will finalize the study. The draft points out maintenance issues. For example, the reserve study sets out the life expectancy the docks and the need to fund reserves for replacement. One member asked is there was any thought of having user fees to cover the maintenance of the docks. Another member asked if we had considered selling the slips. The concern is that the docks may be a considerable expense and they do not use any of the facilities. Right now the covenants require that each access lot is assigned a slip and the association is responsible for the maintenance of the slips and these suggestions would require a change to the covenants. Mike Miller explained that the Virginia law requires that all associations conduct a reserve study within 5 years and we still have a couple of years.
The meeting was adjourned by unanimous consent.
Respectfully Submitted:
Jack Perrigo, Secretary
Approved:
____________________________
Mike Mann, President